With 24 years served on the Shelby County Board of Education, Brenda Jackson certainly has more experience than anyone associated with the board, but she said she still sees more and more room for growth in the district’s abilities and expectations.

If voters are still be deciding between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney or which of the 10 Shelbyville City Council candidates to choose on Nov. 6, they might also be surprised to see a constitutional amendment on the ballot.

And the amendment might strike them as odd, as well.

It seems the proposed Personal Right To Hunt and Fish amendment was quietly passed through the state House and Senate, right to the ballot for voters to decide.

“There was really no debate at all, that I recall,” said Rep. Brad Montell (R-Shelbyville).

Stephen Cohn said he has three reasons for entering into the political arena for the first time: his wife and two children.

“I am running for Shelbyville City Council because I care about the future of our city for my children and all the residents that call Shelbyville home,” said Cohn, one of five Republicans among 11 candidates vying for six council seats. “I would like to see my children grow up in a safe, secure and thriving city that can provide a great place to live, work and play.

As voters enter the polls on Nov. 6 for the District 2 and District 5 Shelby County Board of Education races their choices will come down to two main issues: taxes and student achievement.

Incumbents Sam Hinkle (District 2) and Brenda Jackson (District 5) have responded to claims of board over-spending and alleged unnecessary tax increases, but both have focused more on increasing student achievement as their main goals.

Running for his fourth term on the Shelby County Board of Education, Sam Hinkle has a focus on one thing: achievement.

Hinkle, who for 12 years has served District 2, said “Academic achievement for all students” is the biggest issue facing the board.

He points to three programs as the board’s biggest achievements in his time — all-day kindergarten, the accelerated academies at both high schools and summer school for those needing extra help in reading — and all three are focused on achievement.

Voters in Shelbyville will have more choices this year than maybe ever when they fill out the ballot on Nov. 6 for the Shelbyville City Council race.

In May, for the first time since 1998, there was a Democratic primary, with seven candidates vying for six spots, and now for the November election five Republicans are added to the list, more than any election in at least 20 years.

With just 28 days left before Nov. 6, election officials are enthusiastic about a steady increase in voter registration numbers for Election Day 2012

Shelby County Clerk Sue Carole Perry said on Tuesday, the last day to register to vote, that she would not have an up-to-date total for registered voters for at least a week, but the latest figures tallied Aug. 23 show that both Democratic and Republican numbers are up.